Brent Guerra
Guerra playing for Hawthorn during the 2007 AFL Season
Personal information
Full name	Brent Guerra
Birth	29 May 1982 (1982-05-29) (age 27)
Place of birth	Barham Hositpal
Recruited from	Barham-Koondrook/Bendigo U18
Draft	28th overall, 1999 Port Adelaide 3rd overall, 2005 Pre-Season Draft Hawthorn
Height	181cm
Weight	91kg
Playing Career
Position(s)	Midfield/Forward
Club	Hawthorn
Number	18
Club
Years	Team	Pld	G
2000–2003	Port Adelaide	65	39
2004–2005	St Kilda	31	44
2006–	Hawthorn	76	11
	Total	172	94

Brent Guerra (born 29 May 1982) is an Australian rules footballer.

[edit] Port Adelaide career

Beginning his career at Port Adelaide in 2000, he was seen as a potentially dangerous winger or forward. Brent Guerra also played in three SANFL Premiership sides with Central District in the SANFL during this period. However, at the end of 2003 he was traded from the club due to lack of consistency, and the Saints picked Guerra up for pick 39, who was the unsuccessful Robert Forster-Knight.

[edit] St Kilda career

The Saints looked like they might have picked up an extraordinary deal when Guerra was a key figure for a period during the Saints' early season run in 2004^[1] when St Kilda Football Club won the 2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup and the first 10 games on the trot. He booted 20 goals in a period of 6 games, including one bag of seven. However, from there, his form tapered and he finished with only 9 more goals from the remaining 12 games. Not only was his performance as a damaging forward prominent early in the year, but his toughness was as well. Appropriate considering guerra is Italian, Spanish and Portuguese for "War". He was noted for a number of incidents where he shirtfronted players, including once before the opening bounce of a game (for which he was suspended).

In 2005 he had another average year and people began to question his form as a "Front-runner" who doesn't perform when the pressure is really on. At the end of the season, while most acknowledged he had an average year, the Saints surprisingly delisted Guerra, who was only 23 years of age at the time.

[edit] Hawthorn career

Fortunately, the Hawthorn Football Club picked him up with pick 3 in the 2005 AFL Pre-season draft. Guerra had a connection with Hawk coach Alistair Clarkson from Clarkson's time as an assistant coach at Port Adelaide. Guerra was re-invented at Hawthorn as a strong-bodied half back flanker, and added experience to a very young Hawks lineup in 2006. His hard-nosed approach has at times attracted the attention of umpires, but Guerra has flourished under the attacking and accountable game style of Hawthorn. In both 2007 and 2008 he averaged in excess of 20 possessions per game, displaying a consistency that was lacking earlier in his career up forward. As a part of Hawthorn's 2008 premiership side, Guerra collected 25 possessions in a reliable display. After twice seeming destined for an early end to his AFL career, Guerra has found his place and has many seasons still ahead of him. His first premiership coming after several preliminary final failures playing for both the Saints and Port.

[edit] Off field

Guerra experienced male pattern balding at a young age, and made headlines in late 2005 when he underwent a hair transplant cosmetic surgery procedure. [1] He has said that the operation gave him confidence both on and off the field.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Brent Guerra profile on the Official AFL Website of the St Kilda Football Club
• Brent Guerra's statistics from AFL Tables